


Emma Front and Center

by MaryElizabethPerkins



Category: Hatchetfield Universe - Team StarKid
Genre: Emma is bad at improvising, F/M, Fix-It, Non-infected! Paul, Paul is good at improvising, Paul pretends to be part of the hive, Rating is for one bad word, Takes place right after Inevitable
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2021-01-10
Updated: 2021-01-10
Packaged: 2021-03-14 16:06:54
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,079
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/28673445
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/MaryElizabethPerkins/pseuds/MaryElizabethPerkins
Summary: “It’s inevitable!” Paul sang, and Emma saw his eyes.They were wide open and had a spark. It wasn’t the spark of utter chaos she had seen in the eyes of the policemen or Charlotte or Professor Hidgens. No, the spark was something else.Paul’s shoulders were pulled up by his ears. He looked as if he was being hunted, she realised. Why would he seem hunted? Wasn’t he the one currently dancing menacingly towards her?
Relationships: Paul Matthews/Emma Perkins
Comments: 2
Kudos: 28





	Emma Front and Center

“Inevitable, inevitable, inevitable,” the entire town chanted at her, and Emma backed away as tears ran down her face.

Paul stepped forward. “The apotheosis is upon us!” he yelled. The Hive all joined in on the last word.

Emma screamed. The Hive had surrounded her and there was no way she’d make it. Paul gripped her face, and without meaning to, she looked back up at him.

“It’s inevitable!” he sang, and she saw his eyes.

They were wide open and had a spark. It wasn’t a spark of utter chaos, like the one she had seen in the eyes of the policemen or Charlotte or Professor Hidgens. No, the spark was something else.

Paul’s shoulders were pulled up by his ears. He looked as if he was being hunted, Emma realised. Why would he seem hunted? Wasn’t he the one currently dancing menacingly towards her?

Emma realised she had stopped screaming for a moment. The Hive remained in their places too, humming and swaying slightly. Paul still held her face, waiting.

That didn’t make any sense. Obviously, the Hive wanted him to act. They wanted him to infect her.

Apparently, both Paul and Emma had waited too long, as the citizens of Hatchetfield resumed their singing and began to kickline closer.

Emma looked back at Paul, who now held a pleading look in his eyes.

Suddenly, she remembered. Hadn’t he said he made it? Before, Emma interpreted it as a lie. She thought he just wanted to lure her in. Could it be true?

Another glance towards Paul confirmed it. His eyes were definitely different than the others.

The dancing crowd surrounded them once again, their humming having grown deafeningly loud. Emma and Paul were the only non-infected people in town, but for how long? What chance did they have to get away?

_What if the only choice is, you have to sing to survive?_

The thought washed over her like a cold shower. Paul had told her how. That was it! They could make it out! Maybe they could even cross the bridge.

Wait…

Fuck!

How was she supposed to just make up a song on the spot like that?

Panicking, Emma sung the first song that came to mind. It was Zoey’s stupid coffee song. The first lines leapt out of her mouth before she had time to consider it. Thankfully, the instant the melody reached the ears of the Hive, her old colleagues were at her side, performing the choreography. They didn’t seem to notice how the lyrics were out of place considering the situation. Emma tore herself away from Paul’s grasp and joined them. She stood front and centre, just like he had asked.

For the first time ever, she was grateful towards her manager for and her endless rehearsals with the staff. The Hive bought that she was one of them. Granted, they were brainless, at least if what happened to that cop was anything to go by, but still.

As her heart calmed down to a pace closer to what was healthy, Emma gazed over at Paul. It was just in time to see him school his expression from a pained one into a face-splitting smile as he clumsily copied the hive. Despite his stiff movements, she could see that his shoulders had dropped.

From the way her old colleagues stopped singing the lyrics, instead opting to harmonize the first line over and over, it dawned on Emma that they expected more of her. She would have to twist the lyrics somehow.

How did Paul do that? How did he just now what words to say?

_Put your words to lyrics, and you’re playin’ the game now. It’s all there is and all there ever was._

Maybe he simply used the message he wanted to send and tried to make it fit the melody. After all, that’s what it sounded like he said.

Gathering courage, Emma straightened up and made an attempt. “Hey Mr Matthews, how do you do? I gotta give my thanks to you!”

Crap, that didn’t fit!

Maybe if she blew him a kiss they wouldn’t notice? Maybe they cared more about plot and drama than if everything was perfect?

“Emma!” Paul’s face lit up in a true smile, resembling the ones she had seen at Beanie’s or at Professor Hidgen’s place. That seemed like a lifetime ago.

The Hive started dancing forward and lifted their arms in a gesture that alarmed Emma until she recognized it as part of the dance.

“Whaaaat?” they prompted in chorus.

Right, they were still making up lyrics. She looked back at Paul, trying to will him to repeat her name so it would fit the song.

“Emma!” Paul repeated.

“Whaaaat?” Emma responded, along with the entire town.

“I’m so glad you understand!” Paul used enough emphasis to mark the end of the song. Thank god she wouldn’t have to improvise more.

The townspeople posed dramatically for a few moments before someone by the edge of the crowd took up a new tune. There was a great deal of scuffling as everyone turned to close up around them instead. Emma flinched as she saw the Hive all spread their arms at the same time, resulting in several of them smacking their neighbour’s face.

The Hive began to walk downtown, singing about all the things they wanted. In the moment, Emma just wanted to go unnoticed, so she and Paul joined the back ranks.

“What are we going to do?” Emma whispered.

Suddenly it was very quiet around them.

“I want to go on a boat with you!” Paul sang and reached for Emma’s hand.

The citizens of Hatchetfield bellowed out the chorus and let the couple run down to the harbour.

Fifteen minutes later the song was just barely heard above the noise of the boat. Emma looked at Paul, who sat close to the bow and eyed Clivesdale on the opposite shore.

“How did you learn to steer a boat?” he asked. “Or steal one?”

“Travels.” Emma shrugged. “But the most important question is how we'll manage to warn Clivesdale about this before the Hive spreads.”

“We’ll figure it out,” Paul assured her.

“How can you be so sure?"

Paul took a deep breath. “I’m not going to stand by and let the world become a musical. No way.” Emma looked into his eyes. They weren’t hunted anymore. They were determined. “I hate musicals!” Paul said as they passed the Clivesdale breakwater.


End file.
